Paas and Schloesser lead the way during qualifying in Antalya 

Meeri-Marita Paas (700) and Mike Schloesser (711) battled through a rainstorm and challenging wind to finish on top of qualification as the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit got off to an exhilarating start in Antalya, Turkey today.

Estonia’s Paas recorded her first-ever competition 700 to end the day seeded first of the compound women.

“I feel amazing, super happy,” said the world number 16. “I didn’t expect this, I didn’t think I would be first because the weather conditions were really difficult to shoot in and [I was] shooting against the top in the world.”

“With only three minutes to shoot all six arrows it was quite difficult, but I find myself to be a quick shooter, so I lived through it.”

The weather started affecting competition near the end of the first half of the 72-arrow round, with a rainstorm moving in and lasting up until the 60th arrow was shot. 

The top two compound women in the world and 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final title match contenders Toja Ellison and Sara Lopez – who said she felt “horrible” in the morning – had tied for the lead up until then but dropped back, buffeted by the residual wind, unlike Paas, who pushed ahead.

“I haven’t been shooting outside for long back home and this was my first outdoor competition of the season,” added the 20-year-old Paas.

“Some of the wind gusts made it quite difficult [but] it shows me that I can shoot in the wind. I can manage my nerves; they aren’t blocking me from anything. I can go with the flow; all I have to do is aim in the middle and everything will be fine.”

Reigning champion Lopez seeded third (698) behind Yesim Bostan on home soil, while Ellison came in fourth (698). The much-tipped Ella Gibson and veteran Alejandra Usquiano completed the compound women’s top six (both 697).

It was business as usual for the compound men’s leaderboard, with world number one Schloesser not letting up in his quest to become the all-time great.

He registered a 711 to record his fourth-straight Hyundai Archery World Cup stage top seed after he swept the qualifying phases at all three stops last year on his way to his third circuit title.

“It was really tough because of all the rainy conditions to deal with but I feel like the work I’ve been putting in worked out and I shot really good,” said Schloesser. “I was strong mentally too. I just kept it simple and sometimes accepted that there could be a bad arrow. I just go for it, stayed strong and battled through.”

“I had two competitions out of season which didn’t go as planned so I took a completely different approach to the competition here and it worked out so I’m so happy.”

Mister Perfect finished six points ahead of Jean Pizarro (705). Four archers landed on 702, a former circuit champion from host Turkey, Demir Elmaagacli, had 701 – then world number two Mathias Fullerton (700) and reigning World Archery Champion Nico Wiener (699) sat in the eighth and ninth spots.

The individual top seeds will be back in action, along with the rest of the compound fields, on Thursday afternoon. There is no more top eight byes as of this season.

Instead of byes for the highest qualifiers, the opening stage of the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup marks the first time that archers will be awarded ranking points for a strong performance in the opening phase of competition.

The top eight seeds in each category are now awarded bonus points, which count towards the Hyundai Archery World Cup Ranking.  A number one seeding earned eight bonus points – which have gone to Paas and Schloesser – while second seed is seven, third seed is six – and so on. A stage win in the finals arena is still worth 25 points.

For ranking points purposes, only the points score is taken into account.

A good day, then, for Puerto Rico’s Jean Pizarro to also put down a career competition best of 705 for that second slot in the leaderboard and a valuable seven bonus points for the Hyundai Archery World Cup Ranking.

“With it being the first normal tournament since the pandemic and the weather conditions, it’s great,” said the world number 26.

“This is the best I’ve ever done, so I’m pretty pumped. I’m trying new stuff, I’m using new equipment so it’s a great position for me to be in right now with the new system of ranking points. But let’s see what happens in the eliminations as that’s the real deal.”

Turkey’s compound men (2092 points) and mixed pair (1399), plus the Estonian compound women (2079) topped the team rankings.

Competition in Antalya continues on Wednesday 20 April with compound team eliminations in the morning and recurve qualification in the afternoon.

Top seeds: Compound men

1. Mike Schloesser, Netherlands – 711 (8 circuit ranking points)
2. Jean Pizarro, Puerto Rico – 705 (7 points)
3. Chen Chieh-Lun, Chinese Taipei – 702 57 10s (6 points)
4. Jean Philippe Boulch, France – 702 56 10s 26 Xs (6 points)
5. Jozef Bosansky, Slovakia – 702 56 10s 21 Xs (6 points)
6. Elia Fregnan, Italy – 702 54 10s (6 points)
7. Demir Elmaagacli, Turkey – 701 (2 points)
8. Mathias Fullerton, Denmark – 700 (1 point)

Top seeds: Compound women

1. Meeri-Marita Paas, Estonia – 700 (8 circuit ranking points)
2. Yesim Bostan, Turkey – 698 53 10s (7 points)
3. Sara Lopez, Colombia – 698 51 10s (7 points)
4. Toja Ellison, Slovenia – 697 51 10s 28 Xs (5 points)
5. Ella Gibson, Great Britain – 697 51 10s 24 Xs (5 points)
6. Alejandra Usquiano, Colombia – 697 50 10s (5 points)
7. Lisell Jaatma, Estonia – 692 (2 points)
8. Amanda Mlinaric, Croatia – 689 (1 point)